SCALE 9X, Day 1.0: Saturday morning

Yeah, it already started, but there’s no reason why you can’t join in. Registration is still open for SCALE 9X — register now by clicking on the winking penguin. Better do it quick, though — SCALE 9X is this weekend!

To put Day 0 to rest, the evening started out with a nice dinner with fellow SCALE Publicity Co-Chair Orv Beach and my family, which was followed by the UpSCALE talks. The talks, patterned after Ignite Talks where speakers are given five minutes with slides automatically advancing every 20 seconds (so that’s 20 slides per speaker), are a challenge and fortunately for me, Mimi and I were up to the task. Each of the talks were very interesting and funny, whether it was Mark Terranova in his penguin suit or Amber Graner giving us the true Southern translation of the expression “bless your heart.” Rikki Kite’s presentation about media hit close to home and, as a newpaper guy, I was glad to see her “tips” for techies get out into the wild.

Another thing about last night: I received my SCALE hockey jersey. Those of you who know me know I don’t like hockey — it’s a difficult sport because a.) it involves ice skating, b.) it involves trying to keep an object ahead of you while ice skating and c.) it involves trying to stay upright while your opponent tries to knock you down while you try to keep the object ahead of you while ice skating. However, truth be told, if there’s any jersey I can wear without looking like a complete idiot, it’s a hockey jersey. So Gareth Greenaway made up jerseys for the SCALE chairs, complete with name on the back, and I proudly wear mine. Just don’t blame me if you find me in the penalty box periodically during the course of the show.

Saturday morning, so far, has been catching up and a distinct longing for coffee before heading downstairs to get said coffee and setting up the Fedora booth, all along with a nagging suspicion that I should have brought more media. I parsed out swag and media for two shows — SCALE and Linux Fest Northwest — and with attendance numbers seeming to eclipse last year, I might have brought more. We’ll see.

This is report 1.0. Report 1.1 will follow, but for now I hear a cup of coffee calling my name from 16 floors below me, and its siren song cannot be resisted. More later.

(Fedora ambassador Larry Cafiero runs Redwood Digital Research in Felton, California, and is an associate member of the Free Software Foundation. He is also one of the founders of the Lindependence Project.)